Falling in the Midst of Fire and Death
by blurrygraylines
Summary: By then Bruce could see the haze of smoke over the horizon. He adjusted his course towards Manhattan. As he approached, he saw the twin towers surrounded by fire and smoke. One of them had a giant plane shaped hole in it, and the other was exploding, sending clouds of fire and smoke into the bright Manhattan morning air. In memory of 9/11


**AN: In memory of 9/11.**

Falling in the Midst of Fire and Death

Bruce was at the Manor spending time with Dick when the alert came over his comm. Dick was just eight, he really had no idea what the call meant, or what Bruce was about to see. Bruce didn't know either. All J'onn said was that there was a situation in New York, and all Leaguers available should respond.

So he told Dick he had to go, something came up at the office and he had to go take care of it. He ruffled Dick's hair and headed to his study. He turned the grandfather clock to the correct time, and entered the Cave.

Bruce went straight to where he kept his suit, and changed into it. Then he went over to the computer and called up the Watchtower. J'onn responded to his call.

"Batman," J'onn greeted. Bruce raised an eyebrow under his cowl, not that J'onn could see it.

"J'onn. What's the emergency you alerted us to?" Bruce asked the Martian. J'onn's brow creased, and Bruce felt a stab of unease. It took a lot to worry the usually aloof alien. Bruce almost didn't want to know what it was.

"There is a…" J'onn trailed off, seeming not knowing what to say. Bruce motioned with his hand for him to go on. "Situation in New York,"

"Yes, you said that before. What do you mean by 'situation'?" Bruce asked impatiently. J'onn hesitated.

"I believe Superman called it a… Terrorist attack," J'onn finally said. Bruce first felt confusion. A terrorist attack? Why hadn't he heard about it on the news? Then fear. What was happening? What kind of attack? Were they safe in Gotham, which was close to New York? Were there casualties? Injured? Where was it in New York? Who was handling it?

Bruce felt the fear flash across his face, before he quickly squashed it. Right now wasn't the time to fear. Right now was the time to do something about it.

"Who's over there?" Bruce asked, his voice cold and emotionless.

"I believe Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and both Green Lanterns," J'onn informed him. Bruce felt some relief. Those Leagues were the one he would have chosen too. Wonder Woman could help get people out of the way. Superman too. Flash's speed, the GL's rings could also help rescue victims.

"I'm on my way," Bruce told J'onn. "I'll be there as fast as I can," Bruce cut off the connection and sprinted over to his jet. He climbed in, and strapped himself into the pilot's seat. He set a course for New York, figuring that he could see whatever the attack was as he approached. It was probably in Manhattan, that was the most popular city.

It would take maybe fifteen minutes to half an hour to fly from Gotham to Manhattan, so while he flew, Bruce turned on the news.

Cat Grant's worried face appeared on the plane's screen

" _...So far two planes have crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, the headquarters of the World Trade Center. Both towers are attempting to evacuate, and casualties remain unknown,"_

So a plane crashed into one of the towers, Bruce thought. Just then a new call came through from J'onn.

"Batman. Another plane has crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C.," J'onn informed him. Bruce's eyes widened. How big was this terrorist attack?

"Who's on the site?" Bruce asked.

"I have dispatched Fire, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Plastic Man, Hawkgirl, and Hawkman," J'onn said.

"Might want to reroute one of the Green Lanterns," Bruce advised. "I think New York can spare one. We don't want it to seem like New York has the priority over Washington by sending the all the League's senior members to the city,"

"I will do that," J'onn confirmed, and then the screen went dark.

By then Bruce could see the haze of smoke over the horizon. He adjusted his course towards Manhattan. As he approached, he saw the twin towers surrounded by fire and smoke. One of them had a giant plane shaped hole in it, and the other was exploding, sending clouds of fire and smoke into the bright Manhattan morning air.

Bruce could vaguely see a blur of red flying around the towers, another running on the exploding tower itself. Superman and Flash, trying to help evacuation. A burst of green suddenly appeared, and a glowing green slide materialized next to the plane-hole.

Bruce realized that it would be a bad idea to steer his plane directly to the towers, it might look like another attack. He landed outside the city and discharged his cycle from the plane. Bruce drove as fast as he could towards the towers, taking in the people fleeing through the streets.

One woman had fallen down on the street, her ankle twisted at an odd angle. Bruce stopped his bike for a moment to help her, then continued on. He went that way all the way to the towers, stopped momentarily to help civilians to get away.

As Bruce go closer to the site, he could see and hear Diana herding people along, helping them to evacuate the area. He drove his bike over to her and hopped off.

"Batman," She greeted, helping a little boy to his mother.

"Wonder Woman. What can I-" He was interrupted by a red blur speeding in.

"Bats, glad you're here," Flash said. A frown creased the man's normally cheerful face, his bright blue eyes betraying his fear.

"Flash. What's being done already?" Bruce asked.

"Supes and GL are still evacuating. I was running through the towers and helping stragglers, and helping Wonder Woman with crowd control," Barry told him.

"What exactly happened?" Bruce asked.

"Superman was listening in on some of the news reports, and informed us that this was deliberate," Diana said.

"What do you mean 'deliberate'?" Bruce questioned quickly.

"She means it was terrorism. Two commercial airline planes crashed into the towers about twenty minutes apart. At first they thought it was an accident, but then the second plane crashed. They said there was no way it could be a coincidence. And I agree with them," Flash said.

Bruce nodded. It did make sense.

"And now what can we do?" Bruce asked.

"Right now all I think we can do is continue helping with the evacuation. Maybe get in touch with the press, give a statement or two about what happened. We should also try to see what happened in D.C.," Barry reasoned.

So he knew about D.C. too.

"That sounds reasonable. Flash, go help Superman and Green Lantern in the towers. I'll stay here with Wonder Woman," Bruce ordered. Barry nodded and sped off.

Wonder Woman went back to helping New York citizens, and Bruce joined her. In the distance he heard Diana talking with a civilian.

"... thank you so much. I don't know what I would do without the Justice League," The woman was saying. Bruce heard Diana respond, saying that she was glad to help. Diana bade the woman on and moved to help someone else.

Bruce wandered away helping some other civilians. This continued on for hours, Bruce keeping an eye on towers to make sure they still stood and no other planes crashed. The League kept it up well into early morning, and by the time the whole area was clear, Bruce was exhausted.

Each member of the League was dead silent as they boarded the quinjet to get back to the Watchtower. Flash and Green Lantern fell asleep on the way to the Tower. Bruce sat in the pilot seat, with Clark next to him. Neither said anything, but it was comforting having someone with him, not that he'd ever admit that.

That day he's seen all kinds of terrors. There had been a many running around on fire, Clark had to put him out, but not before he got some serious burns. There had been a woman sobbing at the foot of one east tower, covered in soot and dust. A dirty child wandering the streets. Every child he saw wandering reminded him of Dick. It made him realize that any child out there _could_ be Dick.

Bruce dreaded the coming mission report, but it was required. He really didn't want to do it, but he didn't want to put the others through it either. It was better him, he had already seen this before. He knew how to handle it, but he didn't think they did.

A few hours later, they arrived at the Watchtower. The got off the plane and immediately headed to the canteen. Flash sped ahead of everyone, but noticeably slower from exhaustion and hunger. Bruce and everyone else walked calmly to the canteen, and immediately got food and dug in. For a while the only sound was chewing and silverware clinking.

Surprisingly, Diana broke the silence.

"Why would people do that?" She asked, glaring around the table.

"I… I just don't know, Princess," Barry said. His cowl was pulled back, showing his tousled blond hair.

"They would do that against their own people?" Diana asked incredulously.

"But that's the thing, Diana. They don't see us as their people," Bruce said. Later that day, the suicide bombers had been confirmed as Arabic, members of al-Qaeda.

"But why?" Diana questioned. "On Themyscira, everyone is equal,"

"We're not on Themyscira. Maybe it's beliefs, or their family was wronged or something, or just because they don't want to see us as the same beings as them," John sighed. Diana didn't respond.

Bruce stood up.

"Well, I have to get back. I'll see you later," Everyone said goodbye, and Bruce headed to the hangar. He flew back to Gotham, and made it back around three in the afternoon. He was immediately greeted by Dick, who jumped up and threw his arms around Bruce's waist.

Alfred stood in the corner, watching fondly. Bruce silently opened his arms to the elderly butler, but at first Alfred refused. Dick saw what he was doing, and dragged Alfred into their hug. Alfred didn't resist this time, and let himself be dragged into the hug.

Bruce smiled softly, glad that his family was safe. Dick wasn't old enough to fully understand what had happened yesterday, and Bruce was glad. The child didn't need to be more traumatized than it already was.

Bruce just hugged Dick and Alfred tighter and decided to enjoy this moment. He counted himself as lucky. Others weren't as fortunate as him as to have all their family with them. Bruce was glad he did.

 **AN: Yep. Review! Tell me what you think!**


End file.
